


Naming Your Children

by Anonymous



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Animated (2007)
Genre: Drabble, M/M, Warning: This Thing Goes Nowhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:53:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23128840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Starscream helps Soundwave with his drones.
Relationships: Cassettes & Soundwave, Soundwave/Starscream
Comments: 4
Kudos: 88
Collections: Anonymous





	Naming Your Children

"THIS ONE," Soundwave nods at a tiny, oval-shaped device with a small analog screen in his servos. Its frame decorated with vibrant, cutesy shades of off-white, blue, and purple, "DESIGNATION: FRENZY,"

The blue mech carefully puts the minuscule thing down and scoops up another identical device but in the contrast patterns of red and black. He cups it with his servos, holding it up high so the magenta seeker could see. "THIS ONE: IS RUMBLE," Soundwave then neatly settles it down near the first one.

Starscream gives an acknowledging hum. He sits cross-legged beside the blue Earth-forged mech. Only half-listening as his companion names the new drones they have gathered and modified.

"TEST RUN: BEGIN NOW," 

Soundwave's visor flashes as his technokinesis take command of the twin drones. Simultaneously he throws up his servo, his digit pointed towards the sky for dramatic effect. To which Starscream has to bite back his smile and rolls his eyes at.

“ROCK ON, SOUNDWAVE’S LOVELY CREATIONS,” His robotic voice loud; full with cheerful edge and vigor. 

Instantly, the two egg-shaped devices came apart and rearranged themselves until they settle on something that looks like two majorly scaled-down Cybertronians. The seeker absentmindedly notes the heavy resemblance to what Soundwave said he used to look like when Dr. Sumdac first built him.

Soundwave's chestplate fluffs slightly with pride, but Starscream looks down at them cautiously. Though he and Soundwave are responsible for their creations, he can't help thinking the way these drones mimic his kind's transformation process is uncanny.

Soundwave doesn't seem to be bothered at all, though. He treats them almost like they're his sparklings taking their first steps.

"OPERATION: SUCCESSFUL." Soundwave's field buzzes in satisfaction. In celebration, Rumble and Frenzy gave an awkward, twitchy twirl, almost in marionette-like fashion.

"Brilliant, Soundwave." The seeker indulges. "But what even are their...err- alt-mode? Anyhow?" Starscream was unsure what to make of these drones. They can transform without a T-Cog and can run on electricity and batteries; they're not really like Soundwave or himself. He is hardly sure which one of these drones' forms to count as alt-mode.

"BASED ON HUMAN ENCYCLOPEDIAS: HANDHELD VIRTUAL PET DEVICE CALLED TAMAGOTCHI" Soundwave answered. "IF POSSIBLE: FUTURE UPGRADES AND ADJUSTMENTS WILL BE ADDED IN DUE COURSE."

"Another one of the human playthings huh?" Starscream takes a look around at their recent creations scattered on the ground.

There is a robotics cat that sits comfortably on the grass next to Soundwave's knee— Ravage— Starscream recalls. Perhaps the most impudent out of all of them due to its factory settings. Soundwave has left the personality codes alone, despite the things always randomly yells in the middle of the night and caused general havoc to their base.

Another one is a red 'Power Wheels'— which both of them definitely did not steal from some fleshies' porch and named it Knockout— drifts itself around in circles, occasionally bumping against Starscream's pedes.

A dish-like vacuum cleaner (picked up from a trash site, this time) that annoyingly refuses to respond to any designations, no matter how many times Soundwave hijacks it. There is a reason it was thrown away in the first place, he supposes.

Another RC toy quadcopter lies motionlessly next to the chirping Laserbeak. The blue van called it Ratbat. What crude names they all have, Starscream thinks to himself. He had suggested Sunstorm for that one, but Soundwave is rather persistent about naming it after Earth's invasive vermins, for reasons only Primus may know.

The small robots twins now stumbling directionlessly. Rumble nearly got knocked off its feet by the rampaging Knockout a few times in the span of one minute. 

Starscream scoffed at the duo's clumsy attempt at walking.

"No doubt they'll do great being our spies," he nonchalantly commented with little sarcasm, "Inefficiency aside, fleshlings sure do love these delightfully small, helpless kinds of thing."

Soundwave's field spikes in amusement as his speakers rumble a smooth, deep rhythm— his preferred form of laughing, or so Starscream has learned and grew found of. 

But then slowly quiets down. 

"THE MINIONS: NOT YET SENTIENCE." Soundwave slumps slightly as he says this. His usually monotonous voice suddenly grows drawled. 

Picked up on his companion's dejected demeanor, Starscream looks over at the blue mech. "Must they be? Are they not easier to control this way?"

To the seeker, the drones are nothing but convenience tools for him. Scavenging for Energon sources or sneaking about for information on Cybertron ambassador activities on Earth is easier with them around. Not to mention his own strict ‘safety in numbers’ rule.

Soundwave doesn't respond but reaches out to pluck the twins from the ground before they wander off to get trembled by the certain speedy drone. His visor flashes again and the twins powered down, returning to their original egg-like state.

None of the machines originated on this planet are capable of emotion or free will. Even Laserbeak, Soundwave's oldest drone, only does things when he takes control of it or circling through a set of actions Soundwave has coded into its processor.

What is the point of liberating non-sentience beings? Starscream is sure that, deep down, Soundwave realizes the flaws in which Megatron has indoctrinated him. Why else would Soundwave wanted his drones to gain sentience? 

Perhaps Soundwave is lonely, Starscream muses.

But he wasn't about to lay any of that on Soundwave just yet. During their time plotting and surviving together, he has learned Soundwave can be one stubborn little glitch. Annoying as it is, Starscream can't blame him for wanting company and obsessing over the purpose that Megatron has bestowed onto him.

If he wants Soundwave to be his royal ally he has to play this right. Based on what Soundwave has told him, the earthborn mech hadn't a chance to explore anything about himself and hardly knows anything about his kinds, besides what’s on the ancient Autobots database, that is. 

He will edge him out of it, eventually. In the meantime, he just has to play along; trading his support for Soundwave's trust.

Maybe someday, when those blasted Autobots restore the planet (He still cannot believe that those fraggers actually prevail in the end), they would find a way to go to Cybertron together. Soundwave would surely forget this dirtball of a planet and its insignificant little machine subjugation when he faced with the greatness of their rightful homeworld.

Maybe Soundwave's war crimes would be pardoned and He would be able to live freely. He hadn't a choice, being born into— and for— the war and all. He is as good as being Megatron's drone, really.

Starscream frowned. There is no way that he would get the same treatment. Would the fact that he doesn't remember anything after Megatron stabbed the Allspark key into his chest softened his punishment?

"STARSCREAM?" Soundwave scoots over to him when he notices the familiar troubling look on his current partner in crime.

"…We'll figure something out," Starscream reassures, placing his servo on his companion's back struts.

"Stranger things happen all the time, and the Allspark key isn't the only way to create a newspark, after all," Starscream grins, resisting the urge to wink. There is a lot of untold rituals of Cybertronians that Soundwave has yet to learn, and the seeker had been saving the topic of spark merging for a more special time.  
"Until then, you and I are enough of a formidable army,"

"STARSCREAM'S SENTIMENT: APPRECIATED," Soundwave inches closer, his engine hums softly under the seeker's touch.

"Now shall we get started with the other ones, then?" Starscream picks up a spare part laying around. “You’ll have to program one of them to help us with this soon. Operating on these teeny scraplets is getting tedious…”

But Soundwave continues to stare at him.

"...Well? What is it?"

The van tilts his helm to one side. The red shade glimmers like it usually do when he is pique with interest— in this case, Starscream hopes it is the mech’s thirst in knowledge. "OTHER MEANS TO CREATE NEWSPARKS: ELABORATE?"

"...Oh, dear." Starscream sighs. He already knows he’ll have a long day distracting Soundwave from this one.


End file.
